'GBF': A Hilarious High School Comedy, Or A Tasteless Delve Into Gay Stereotypes? [Trailer + Pictures]

The film takes a light-hearted yet clichéd look at being gay at high school.

Teen comedy GBF is set for release on DVD this week, after enjoying a modest outing (sorry) at various film festivals throughout January. With a cleaverly-written, light-hearted script and a peppering of quality jokes, captioned stills from the film are bound to make their way on to Tumblr before you can say "gay best friend."

'GBF' Stars Michael J. Willett As A Gay Teen Who Is Fought Over By Wannabe Prom Queens.

Michael J. Willett stars as Tanner, a high schooler who, like his best friend Brent Van Camp (yeah, seriously) is gay. The trouble is, no one in the high school has come out yet which would mean a whole lot of unwanted attention for Tanner if he was the first. However, the more social Brent learns that the new "must-have" accessory for the school's popular girls is a "GBF": a gay best friend, which is supposed to be a fast-track to prom queen glory.

Brent's plan to be the first to come out is disrupted when Tanner finds himself unwittingly exposed and is suddenly the reluctant centre of attention. The would-be queen bees - Caprice, 'Shley and Fawcett - soon swarm around, fighting it out to claim Tanner as their 'GBF,' which includes the well-worn clichés of giving him a gay-makeover, inviting him to sleepovers and getting him to tell them they look "fierce."

With the inherently American theme of prom night and its associated drama, there are obvious reference points to Darren Stein's 1999 Jawbreaker, but GBF lacks the dark humor that made the former - about a prom queen who is killed - so memorable. Anyone sensitive to the continually stereotyped portrayal of LGBT characters in the media will feel their toes curl watching GBF, which passes off sexual assault, bullying and entirely predictable scenarios as comedy.

The Movie's Premise Sounds Horrifying But It's Actually Quite Funny.

As a filmmaking debut for writer George Northy, the movie and its slightly controversial premise seem pretty terrible at face value. However, like Mean Girls and other such well-loved teen comedies, the gold is found in the mining of the vacuous, stereotypical cliques and an unabashed head-first jump into one of the most hostile environments known to mankind: the high school.